Imagine you are a jet-setting rock star and your label is being really pushy about getting you to lay down some new tracks for your album. But all you really want to do is be big pimpin' all over the world. Is there a way to do both? Actually there is.
A few hotels offer recording studios inside their properties, making it possible for rock stars and pop stars to take a working vacation.
Of course, you don't need to be a big time rock and pop star to book these hotel studios, you just need plenty of cash.
That means any monied up schmo can throw down a hack version of Chocolate Rain, upload it somewhere, dream of going viral, then end up on VH1's The Best Week Ever. Ah, the wonders of the new millenium.
Sigh. The saddest hotel in all of San Francisco -- no, make that California -- must be the Hotel Nikko. The place is set to reek of crushed hopes and dreams and probably also failure.
Get this: this summer, the Hotel Nikko's Rrazz room will be the first stop for Idols in Concert, the "traveling cabaret" of former American Idol contestants who placed mostly between fifth and eighth in the first six seasons of the show. This is not to be confused with the American Idols Live! tour; this is the Idol B-Team.
In a very, very depressing article, the SF Chronicle writes:
Beginning in July, 17 castoffs from the first six seasons of the popular Fox television singing competition will get a reprieve from the county fair circuit...finalists such as Gina Glocksen, Constantine Maroulis, Lisa Tucker, Christina Christian and Paris Bennett [Ed note: Who, who and who?], plus a handful of less memorable names...will reprise the performances that got them the most votes on the series.
It just makes us sad, you know? The show runs for 9 weeks at the Nikko before moving on. Tickets cost somewhere between $45 and $55; rooms at the Hotel Nikko start around $180.
Let's just say, hypothetically, that you and three of your friends were stranded in San Francisco with only $50 each. Would you rather spend that money on four tickets to the Idols in Concert show or, um, chip in to score a room at the 4 Diamond hotel hosting it?
Was the re-opening of the Dolder Grand Hotel like the biggest thing ever to happen in Zurich? First, people lined up by the hundreds to see the hotel's new renovations. Now the hotel capped off the re-opening celebration with a party hosted by owner Urs Schwarzenbach for 240 people (all his closest friends, no doubt) which featured a private concert by Mary J. Blige.
The hotel's rep writes us:
The $450 million transformation of the hotel took four years so naturally the opening events would be just as extravagant. Mary J Blige performed a private concert at the reception, held in the hotel's grand ballroom (which has a gold cupola).
We're guessing as a way to say thank you for performing (along with a huge check) the hotel put Mary up in the Dolder Grand Suite which has fireplaces in both the living room and the bedroom, views over the city, the lake and the Alps, and a small tower with a lounge and a roof terrace.
If you're not a soul/hip&hop queen, regular room rates start at around $523 USD (540 CHF.)
W Hotels are kicking off something new today with the first of their Wonderlust W All Access gigs at W New York Union Square. Natasha Bedingfield is the first Sony/BMG artist to perform a private concert at the W and rumor has it that other Sony-signed singers will be next--maybe at other W Hotels across the country, but we'll have to wait and see.
The deal for the Natasha Bedingfield concert isn't bad: you get the private concert, two cocktails, late (3pm) check-out and your room, for $989. No cancellations allowed--you lose all your cash--because they don't want the exclusive concert to be any more exclusive than necessary.
The deal requires 24 hour advance reservation so you're probably too late for Natasha, but we'll let you know when we hear about the next gigs.
Poison frontman and Rock of Love star Bret Michaels is performing at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando on May 29th for the hotel's Velvet Sessions. The cost of a chance to dance near the extension-wearing aging rocker? $50 and that includes specialty drinks from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The concert starts in the hotel lobby at 8:30pm. [Orlando Sentinel]
· Speaking of Orlando, About.com just released a Disney World Resort Map. Prepare to do a lot of reading. [About.com] · Intercontinental Hotels might be lagging in the WiFi department but they are determined to stay green in the future. The hotel brand just unveiled its Innovation Hotel website which showcases sustainability of hotels. [LAT Daily Deal Blog] · MGM Mirage might be splitting their hotels and casinos into two separate divisions. [Online Casino Advisory] · The burgeoning Riviera Maya Hotel Scene in a nutshell. [Dallas Morning News]
Many hotels have long professed to be patrons of the arts, housing their own art collections that no one ever looks at or, on a lesser scale, offering discounted museum tickets.
Guest Hotels is now taking it all a step further by turning its five London properties into stages featuring cabaret and indie artists, as well as providing guests with back-stage passes to London celebrity events.
Central to the idea is the Concierge Club, open to everyone for a fee of $340, which provides members with exclusive access to the events, as well as to exhibitions and shows at the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the Tate.
We've been big Huey Lewis fans for as long as we can remember. Ok, so maybe we don't follow every bit of Huey Lewis news but we do know every word to every song on the greatest hits album. That and the people who wrote "Ghostbusters" totally ripped off HLATN's "I want a new drug."
Which is why we would totally hit up the Wyndham Nassau Resort in the Bahamas over March 29 and 30th to see the band play at the Crystal Palace Casino.
Tickets start at $79 and rooms over that weekend (March 28-30) are at $276 for a renovated room at a special webrate price, meaning if you cancel, no refunds allowed. But like, why would we cancel on Huey?
If you need a little cheaper stay, the hotel has "island view" (cough, parking lot, cough) rooms which are not renovated for $138. Unrenovated ocean views are $168.
If you want to splurge on a renovated ocean view room because you are hoping to invite the band back to your room, those start at $335. Just remember, each room category and price charges a $15 resort fee per person, per day. Ugh. We will need a credit card to ride on this hotel train.
Also, the hotel is offering special Huey rates of $250 a night for island view and $310 for ocean view for the dates of March 29 and 30th. These are a little bit different than what we found so shop around and compare within the site or call the hotel to speak with a human to make it easier.
After all, it may be worth the extra work. Huey Lewis and us on the beach in the Bahamas? Oh yeah, mon.
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by juliana
